Bob Lewis' Is Survival Guide

by Lewis, Bob

• ISBN13: 9780672314377
• ISBN10: 0672314371
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-03-01
• Publisher: Pearson P T R

Summary

Written by one of the most trusted, well-known and entertaining professionals in the Information Systems business, this is the only book to address the needs of today's IS professionals. It teaches and advises people on the best ways to achieve success in a difficult, rarely defined, and highly dynamic career.

Author Biography

Bob Lewis writes InfoWorld's popular IS Survival Guide column--with approximately 500,000 readers--that deals with IS management issues. He has held a variety of staff and executive positions in Information Systems at the Star Tribune Company, the consulting firm PSI International, and the Graphic Communications Association, as well as positions in business and product development. He currently works for Perot Systems Corporation as a consultant.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
The Business	p. 9
Aligning with Company Strategy	p. 11
The Club	p. 12
Company Strategy	p. 14
Creating the New Business Model	p. 16
Translating the Business Model into Strategic Capabilities and Processes	p. 17
Turning Strategic Capabilities and Processes into Programs and Projects	p. 18
A Word of Warning	p. 22
Strategy-Free Enterprises	p. 23
Danger, Will Robinson!	p. 23
Supporting Company Tactics	p. 25
The Bad News: It's a Tug of War, and You're the Rope	p. 27
The Good News: It Isn't Complicated	p. 28
Business Technology Consulting	p. 28
Project Estimation	p. 30
Setting Priorities	p. 33
Resource Allocation	p. 34
Prioritization Committees	p. 35
Staff Pre-Allocation	p. 37
A Final Thought: Leverage	p. 39
Supporting the Infrastructure	p. 41
Infrastructure--Our Definition	p. 43
It Ain't Strategic	p. 43
Work-Style	p. 43
Budgeting	p. 44
Developing an Infrastructure Plan	p. 47
Oh Yeah, One More Thing	p. 49
The IS Mission	p. 51
Why Is a Mission Statement Important?	p. 53
Promoting the Results	p. 58
Just One More Thing	p. 58
Loose Ends	p. 59
Your Role in the Business	p. 61
What's Wrong with Internal Customers	p. 63
You Do, However, Have Internal Customers	p. 65
Internal Customer=Bad, Value Chain=Good	p. 65
The Right Attitude	p. 66
Your Role	p. 67
Managing Technology	p. 69
Platform Layer--What You Have	p. 77
Assessing the Platform Layer	p. 78
Why the Platform Layer Assessment Is Essential	p. 79
Individual Component Assessment	p. 80
Component/Function Matrix	p. 83
Interface/Integration Assessment	p. 85
What's It Mean?	p. 92
Information Layer--What You Know	p. 93
Information--The Point of It All?	p. 95
Databases--The Point of It All?	p. 96
Proof That the Author Is Telepathic	p. 96
End of Ranting and Raving--On with the Show	p. 97
Very Important Clarification	p. 97
Repository Assessment	p. 98
Enterprise Information Model	p. 101
Information/Repository Matrix	p. 102
Data Management Process Inventory	p. 104
What's It Mean?	p. 105
Application Layer--What You Do	p. 107
Assessing the Application Layer	p. 108
Applications Assessment	p. 108
Function/Application Matrix	p. 111
Work Environment/Application Matrix	p. 113
What's It Mean?	p. 114
Planning Architectural Change	p. 117
It's Time for a Metaphor	p. 119
Technical Architecture Management Process	p. 120
Identifying Change Drivers and Translating Them to Design Goals	p. 120
Establishing Design Issues and Principles	p. 124
Establishing Strategic Product Standards	p. 133
Defining the Target Technical Architecture	p. 134
Creating the Technical Architecture Migration Plan	p. 138
Technical Architecture Management	p. 138
Processes	p. 141
Making Decisions	p. 145
Command Decisions	p. 146
Consultative Decisions	p. 147
Delegated Decisions	p. 147
Consensus Decisions	p. 149
Voting	p. 152
The Importance of a Good Decision Process	p. 153
The "Ben Franklin"	p. 154
Weighted Ben Franklin	p. 155
Decision Matrix	p. 155
Two-Stage Analyses	p. 160
Last Words about Decision Processes	p. 161
Programs, Initiatives, and Projects	p. 163
The Biggest Secret to Successful Project Management	p. 165
Big Projects Can't Be Estimated	p. 165
Big Projects Mean No Urgency	p. 166
Big Projects Reduce Personal Accountability	p. 166
Big Projects Mean Big Overhead	p. 167
Big Projects Mean Big Risks	p. 168
Doing Big Work Without Big Projects	p. 168
Planning the Work	p. 169
Executing the Work	p. 175
Getting Product Out the Door	p. 185
Business Applications	p. 187
The Impact of Business Change	p. 189
The Limitations of Analysis and Design	p. 189
Choices for Implementing Business Applications	p. 190
Build It Yourself	p. 190
Buy It	p. 191
Making the Build/Buy Decision	p. 193
Methodologies	p. 194
ERP All or Most of the Way	p. 196
Buy Best-of-Breed When You Can, Build When You Have To, or Buy Best-of-Breed When It Fits Well, Build Otherwise	p. 197
System Development Methodologies	p. 207
Process Measurement	p. 211
Why Does IS Need to Be Good at Measurement?	p. 212
Example: Measuring the PC's Value	p. 213
Defining Process Measures	p. 214
Establish Management Goals	p. 215
External Goals	p. 216
External Goal Summary	p. 221
Internal Goals	p. 221
Define Measures	p. 222
Cost Measurement	p. 224
Speed Measurement	p. 225
Quality Measures	p. 229
Internal Measures	p. 231
Testing and Refining the Measures	p. 231
Refining Speed Measures	p. 233
Other Measurement Glitches	p. 234
Data Collection, Reporting, and Use	p. 234
Systems Impact	p. 234
Implement a Process Improvement Program	p. 235
Establishing Benchmarks and Baselines	p. 235
Tracking Performance Over Time	p. 237
Create Process Improvement Opportunities	p. 238
All You Gotta Do Is	p. 238
The Columbo Effect Again	p. 239
The Human Factor	p. 241
Staffing and Skills	p. 245
Hiring the Right People	p. 248
Start with the Right Attitude	p. 248
Defining Who You're Looking For	p. 249
Recruiting	p. 250
Interviewing	p. 252
What Happens Next?	p. 255
Onboarding	p. 255
Skills Management	p. 256
Growth Opportunities	p. 258
Last Thought	p. 260
Compensation, Rewards, and Careers	p. 261
The Employment Contract	p. 263
Compensation2	p. 264
Wages	p. 264
Spot Bonuses	p. 267
Annual Bonuses, Stock, and Stock Options	p. 269
Promotions	p. 270
Performance Appraisals	p. 271
To Summarize	p. 274
Organization and Politics	p. 275
Are You Leading?	p. 277
Leadership, Manipulation, and Morality	p. 277
The Four Relationship Directions	p. 279
Motivation	p. 280
Fear	p. 280
Greed	p. 282
Guilt	p. 284
Avoidance of Boredom	p. 284
Need for Approval	p. 287
Exclusivity	p. 290
The Most Important Motivator	p. 292
Last Thought on Motivation	p. 293
Summary of Motivators	p. 294
Corporate Culture	p. 295
Changing the Culture #1: Communication	p. 297
Changing the Culture #2: Modeling	p. 298
Changing the Culture #3: Technology	p. 299
Last Words on Culture	p. 301
Your Career	p. 301
Leadership	p. 305
Working in Groups	p. 306
The Organizational Chart	p. 310
Corporate Politics	p. 311
ManagementSpeak	p. 317
Index	p. 327
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